The hackers collective Anonymous said Saturday that it attacked 70 mostly rural law enforcement websites in the U.S. in retaliation for the arrests of some of its sympathizers.

Many of the leaked emails appeared to be benign, but some of the stolen material contained sensitive information, including tips about suspected crimes, profiles of gang members and security training, according to the Associated Press.

Anonymous may have gone after the sheriff’s office because the hosting company — Little Rock-based Brooks-Jeffrey Marketing — was an easy target, said Dick Mackey, vice president of consulting at Sudbury, Mass.-based SystemExperts.

Mackey said many organizations don’t see themselves as potential targets for international hackers, causing indifference that can leave them vulnerable, he said.

“It seems to me to be low-hanging fruit,” he said. “If you want to go after someone and make a point and want to have their defenses be low, go after someone who doesn’t consider themselves a target.

Comments

Given the level of corruption among Kansas and Missouri cops, and their seedy, southern-justice, conflict-of-interest law enforcement practices it seems likely that few are more deserving of vigilante justice. Cops are just criminals doing the dirty business of the powers that be in my experience--every bit as full of lies and cow pucky: